Chapter 1

My brother died on the highway while we were heading home for Christmas.

Before he took his last breath, he entrusted his wife and their unborn child to me.

I did everything for them. I took care of Jocelyn like she was the center of my world, even sacrificing my own happiness just to give the kid a stable home.

For seven years, I gave my heart and soul to Jocelyn and her son. I had a clear conscience.

But she never gave me a second glance. Even the boy grew up to despise me.

Finally, with my heart turned to ash, I asked for a divorce.

Jocelyn threw the papers out of the car window and sneered. "If you jump out of this car right now and fetch those papers, I'll sign them!"

I watched the speedometer climb higher and higher. Without a single second of hesitation, I opened the door and jumped.

Three days later, the headlines were everywhere. "The husband of the Grant Group's CEO jumped from a car going sixty miles per hour. With two broken legs, he crawled to his divorce papers and signed his name in blood before passing out."

Jocelyn and Liam... from now on, you mean nothing to me.

The night before Jocelyn and I got our marriage certificate, I went to the clinic for a permanent procedure.

I made sure I could never have kids of my own. From that day on, Liam was my only son.

Every year on the anniversary of my brother's death, I'd take a bottle of good bourbon to his grave. I'd sit there and tell him how much Liam had grown.

Jocelyn caught me there once, her face twisted in a scowl. "Logan, your brother is dead. Stop obsessing over things that don't belong to you."

She looked at me with such pure vitriol. "You're disturbing his peace. I only married you for Liam's sake, and don't you forget it."

I looked up at her, the words I wanted to say dying in my throat. I just swallowed the bitterness.

She kicked my leg, not hard, but enough to show her contempt. "Get up. Stop embarrassing me here."

When I didn't move, she snapped. "You think you can ignore me now? Fine. Since you love this graveyard so much, stay here all night."

My mother stood nearby, wiping tears from her eyes. She waited until Jocelyn's car disappeared before speaking.

"We owe them so much, but why don't you tell her the truth?" she whispered.

I opened the bottle and poured a glass for my brother, a hollow smile on my face.

We lived together for seven years, yet Jocelyn never knew my heart. She never believed in me, so what would words change?

I did my best for Liam. I did my best for her.

Even knowing she didn't love me, I thought there would be at least some basic respect.

But the cemetery was high in the hills. The temperature dropped fast at night. How could she expect me to stay?